Literary Response

Writing a literary response paper is one of the most competent ways of delving into the unfathomable themes and cultural explanations that literature has to offer. Establishing a single clarification of a book is just as important as taking possession of that interpretation, which a response paper is meant to have you do. You'll be able to show that it's not just the book that matters; what you think about it is just as important. Literary Responses are great exercises in developing assurance in your creativity and ability to think critically.

A literary response paper is your chance to recommend and preserve your unique interpretation of any text. Literary response paper writing is a response to the specific literary you have just read. It is your own understanding and knowledge that you have increased from the specific reading. While it is a summary of the reading, you also need to emphasize the main topics, themes, symbols and ideas presented to you. Literary response papers are usually 3-5 page papers (possibly longer in college) where the teacher asks you to explore a particular topic of a work in detail after reading the work. Literary response paper writing may not have the most interesting title, but researching into the world of literature may be one of the most fascinating academic activities you will ever do.

For example, if you read the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you might be asked to discuss the characterization, theme, conflict, symbolism or some other literary element. You would provide quotes from the text to validate your points.

What is Literary Analysis?

When you write your response, you need to use facts and figures from the text and even at times do a little more research in order to let your audience know you understood the text. The purpose of a literary response paper is to examine a text using original thought but without certainly making an argument, as you would be doing in an essay. Understanding a passage of an author's work is often simple compared to communicating one's understanding, review the content, and develop written personal thoughts and views based upon the subject matter. Developing a unique analysis of a book is just as important as taking ownership of that interpretation, which a response paper is meant to have you do. The writing piece typically has a certain stance that you may be in dispute for or against, but the overall theme is that you are able to give your own thoughts and in depth analysis using a certain literary piece.

In Literary Response Writing, you should:

Completely read the extract /novel/play/etc. at least twice before attempting to write about it.

Either read the prompt, identify sections of the piece that relate to it or create one of the themes of the work forming an opinion.